What to Bring

  1. Again and again, people are requested to journal during this event.  So bring supplies to manifest whatever that means for you:

  2. Notebooks and pens/pencils

  3. Sketchbooks and Charcoal

  4. Canvases and paintbrushes

  5. Skin and Henna

  6. Wood and carving knives

  7. Thread, needles and cloth

  8. etc






Holding Space for a Return

to Ancient Ways

  1. I ask that as much as convenient, within reason, that anything you bring to the event can be something that you could have brought 400 years ago, pre industrial revolution. 

  2. This includes simple designs of clothing and footwear that implement natural fabrics.  

  3. Items that help you invoke the specific archetypes (warrior, hunter, elf, Amazon, etc) that you may feel impelled to embody are also most welcome. 


Transformation

  1. Feel free to come to the event with a kind and curious beginner’s mind eager to dive into your depths.  Like the legend of Shambala, a synergistic cycle is quite possible as the deeper each individual dives the higher the collective ascends which then holds space for all-around full-power transformation.



भूर्भुवः॒ स्वः तत्स॑वितुर्वरे॑णियं भ॒र्गो॑ दे॒वस्य॑ धीमहि ियो॒ यो नः॑ प्रचो॒दया॑त्॥ ।

The Dhanurvedin Yogi

  1. Dhanurveda, the Yoga of Weapons, is one of the oldest forms of Yoga as it is an ‘upaveda’ of the RigVeda, a prime component of the four original Vedas.

  2. Prashanti, a yogi with significant warrior propensities, has a rare collection of skills, trainings, experiences, affinities and aptitudes that has rendered him quite qualified to share a contemporary and meaningful view and practice of this ancient science.

Introduction to Dhanurveda

  1. Outdoors on a land where the potency of nature is strong enough to be an accessible guide, where we can camp, cook over an open fire, sleep under the stars, and practice together, in an event that is part Dhanurveda introduction, part Prana Immersion, part Transformational seminar, part Yoga retreat, part Shaman/Jedi training, part archery course, part Elven re-connection, part Warrior initiation, and part Outdoor Survival Skills camp, we will take our personal and collective empowerment to higher levels.

The Archer Archetype

  1. Ancient literature and legends from around the world, as well as modern cinema, have instilled in us a sense of the magic possible via the study and practice of Archery. Molee’s epic image to the right depicts the great Vedic archer Rama attacking Lanka & the demon Ravana from the back of the mighty Hanuman.

  2. Dhanurveda as a Vedic Upaveda

  3. An ‘Upaveda’ is like an appendix to one of the four Vedas, a text/skill/practice that supports Vedic themes and protocols.  The magic and potency of Dhanurveda runs deeper than most know, in fact, Dhanurveda, is actually an Upaveda, an extension, of the Yajur Veda, one of the four Vedas, and thus in many ways an ‘equal’ to Ayurveda which is considered to be an Upaveda to the Atharva Veda and to the Rig Veda. 

Hanuman carrying Lord Rama

into Battle against Ravana

Prashanti teaching Dhanurveda in Bohemia

Dhanurveda Depths & Teachings

  1. On the surface Dhanurveda focuses on training the Yogi in the seven weapons, of which the bow was most important for the Yogi, especially as within the bow contained many metaphors for a right and rewarding Yogic path.  On deeper levels Dhanurveda teaches us concentration, focus, breathing, stillness, and the right use of power to manifest positive change, especially the power of the Warrior and Tolkienesque Elf within. 

  2. Deeper yet, Dhanurveda is an arena that places in our hands and within mind and heart, a path to dive into the essence of Yoga, Ayurveda and Tantra, including incredible forms and dances of Prana, Mantra, and Goddesses like Kundalini upon the stage of our deepest Spirit.  Dhanurveda is incredibly empowering and is readily employed for the benefit of all beings!

Outer Form of Inner Practice

  1. Dhanurveda classes are cumulative, where we are continually in the cycle of adding techniques, practicing them, accruing more insights, practicing them, and building a momentum of skillfulness as pragmatic and useful to an archer as it is to a Yogi, or a scholar, or a business owner or anyone who wants to live a more empowered and empowering life.  This is because the outer ‘archery’ techniques you will learn are actually manifestations of deeper practices of Prana, Tejas, Tantra, Mantra and Yagna. 

  2. Just as the ancient text ‘The Art of War’ can be used by everybody, so this course on Dhanurveda will significantly boost the fundamental basic skills of managing your power at all levels and amidst all circumstances of the world and spiritual practice, and allow you to live in deeper peace, trust and alliance with Nature and all beings.

‘Amazon Archer’ by Esteban Marato

Tibetan Archer

The Seven Layers of Dhanurveda Initiation

  1. In Prashanti’s pedagogy there are seven levels or layers of initiation into Dhanurveda. 

Dhanurveda I:

  1. We initiate our ability to utilize Archery as a complete sadhana that can fully transpose the key elements of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras into our lives. 

  2. Within days we leave no doubt that Dhanurveda is a preeminent practice in its ability to manifest at the five levels of being an intimately visceral perception of the unyielding inexorable power available when Prana is relentlessly focused into the cogent coherence of Tejas.  In these and in dozens of additional ways we accumulate the direct experience required to enable us to fully embrace the path of Yoga. 

  3. Indeed, we discover that the language of archery, including its dominant warrior dialects, can articulate the path to a wide array of Mastery, including the power of Peace itself.

Dhanurveda II:

  1. By Dhanurveda II we are smitten to the extent that if the bow is not in our hands it is still in our minds.  So with a bow in hand and eyes acquiring the singularity (target), via the keys of abhyasa (accumulation) and incessant sankalpa (setting intention) we generate the insights and yoke to the instincts that, like an inner Guru, radically deepens and oft rewardingly rearranges the revelations of our Dhanurveda sadhana and its subsequent fruits. 

  2. Along with practice, and more practice, and also with practice in the context of increasingly diversified scenarios, the theories and practices of Vak, Mantra and Ayurveda lend themselves to the deepening.  With references to Jyotisha and Vastu Shastra we may find ourselves astounded at the sacred geometry literally emerging from every point, line, arc, tangent, radius, chord and trajectory inherent in our new-found sadhana that now borders on an infatuation. 

  3. In fact, as thrilling to the mathematician as it is to the poet, we will soon realize that our infatuation is largely based on the way that this innate sacred geometry so masterfully weaves our humanity with the direct experience of the immense graceful power and beauty of living aligned with the fundamental forces of nature, our nature.

  4. As our continual practice is the forge upon which knowledge is hammered into wisdom, so it also becomes a delightful terrain for a joyously integrated community.  Within these clans created are the sparks that ignite and inspire a key motivation to studying Dhanurveda: discovering and embodying the most mindful and skilled versions of our individual and collective selves so that we can live in peace and harmony for the benefit of all beings!

Dhanurveda III-VII:

  1. Come and find out!  (Hint: ‘movement’)

About your Dhanurvedin

  1. Prashanti de Jager is a born Dhanurvedin.  Dhanu means ‘the arc’ and is a root name/mantra of Sagittarius and of the Sun. As a double Dhanu, with both moon and rising near the galactic center and trined with an exalted sun he is born with a strong blend of warrior-shaman-yogi vasanas/tendencies.  It is no wonder that he shot a bow weekly if not daily from the ages of 5 to 20, most of that like an Yogi-Elf having countless profound spiritual experiences of merging with Nature herself while wandering the forests of Northern Michigan helping to put food on the table of a family of 'de Jagers,' 'the Hunters,' lead by braveheart parents involved in the warriors of the Dutch Underground of WWII.  After earning advanced degrees from the University of Michigan he has since immersed himself in Vedic Sciences including Ayurveda & Yoga for over a decade in India as the Herb/Ayurveda/Vedic aspect of Organic India’s original crew.  Prashanti pours his experience, insights, love, knowledge and passion into all he does for the express purpose of empowering as many people, biotas and ecosystems as possible.

Prashanti teaching Dhanurveda in Bohemia

Invoking Archetypes Within

  1. The image here of the Amazon is by Esteban Maroto and illustrates the deep timeless archetypes we humans have regarding the power possible via the study of Archery especially in the context of Dhanurveda.  

  2. Dhanurveda Immersion are an empowering game changer.  There are forms of Tejasic Pranayama that you can only learn when Archery teaches you. 

  3. I hope to see you soon at the next Dhanurveda centric Prana Immersion.

Katka in Bohemia

Kristyna in Bohemia

Wonderful Training for Children

Kamila in Bohemia

Dhanurveda Immersion Bohemia 2013

Beautiful Dhanurveda Immersion Crew 2011

Kamila in Dhanurveda II

Prashanti walking to Flight Shots

In Tejas: The Focused Fire of Life

Tejas is the coalescing of our deep and brilliant light of awareness into a coherent cogent focused stream that can accomplish the greatness of the heights of our own personal and collective potential.


The Metric of Greatness in Yoga/Veda

When you read the tales of the great Yogis, Poets, Saints, Royalty, Warriors, etc of the Yogic/Vedic Traditions often their greatness is described in terms of their Tejas.  And yet, so few Western people who practice within these Traditions have even heard of this term Tejas, fewer know what it means, and even fewer fully understand what it is, how to ignite and cultivate it, and how to successfully manage and navigate life and accomplishments with it.

Those who attend this course will become part of those ‘few.’

Dhanurveda is a Tejas Dharana Practice

The Vajra is about Tejas

Next Dhanurveda

Northern Czech

May 21-24, 2020

  1. For more information please go to:

  2. http://www.kailashvedicguild.com/